Oct232012

Retail sales increased 1.1% in September. Industrial production was up 0.4% in September. The topline CPI rose 0.6% in September as the core CPI rose 0.1%. Housing starts increased 15% in September while building permits rose 11.6%. Existing home sales fell 1.7% in September. Business inventories increased 0.6% in August. Initial jobless claims rose 46,000 to 388,000 for the week ended 10/13.

• Retail sales rose 1.1% in September.

• Industrial production increased 0.4% in September. This follows a 1.4% decline in August.

• The topline consumer price index increased 0.6% in September; the core CPI was up 0.1%.

• Housing starts surged 15% to an annual pace of 872,000 units in September. September marked the largest percent increase in permits in over four years. The level of starts is still well below an estimated 1.5 million if the economy were fully recovered (starts peaked at over 2 million prior to the housing bubble burst).

• Building permits jumped 11.6% in September to an annual pace of 894,000 units. Single-family permits were up 6.7% while multi-unit permits increased 20.3%.

• Existing home sales declined 1.7% to an annual pace of 4.75 million units in September. The median home price of $183,900 was up 11.3% from a year ago. Distressed home sales accounted for 24% of all sales (13% foreclosures and 11% short sales), up from 22% in August. Total housing inventory fell 3.2% to a more than six-year low of 5.9 months.

• Business inventories were up 0.6% in August.

• Initial jobless claims increased 46,000 to a level of 388,000 for the week ended October 13th.